Company

IO Biotech ApS is a clinical stage biotech company developing disruptive immune therapies i.e. checkpoint/cancer vaccines. Checkpoint/cancer vaccines suppress the function of regulatory immune cells and induce inflammation in the microenvironment in addition to direct targeting of cancer cells. 

Technology

Checkpoint/cancer vaccines represent a novel approach inducing or activating anti Tregs that is highly synergistic with any other immune-oncology therapeutic approaches. Anti Tregs target the regulatory cells - not immune checkpoint receptors targeted by e.g. antibodies. Thus, by killing the immuno-supressive cells anti Tregs remove immune suppression allowing for intratumoral inflammation and subsequent elimination of cancer cells. 

Clinical Data

IO Biotech has already shown clinical validation of an IDO vaccine in a clinical phase I trial in a small number of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (Iversen et al., Clinical Cancer Research, 2014 Jan 1;20(1):221-32). 

Vaccine-treated patients had significantly increased overall survival compared to non-vaccine-treated patients, and tumor regression was observed in one patient with liver metastasis.